In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you snapshots from the lives of the Companions
by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy on him.
Jabir ibn 'Abdillah al-Ansari,
may Allah be pleased with him.
The caravan pressed forward, hastening its steps from Yathrib to Makkah,
driven by longing and impelled by yearning,
for an appointment had been set with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Everyone in the caravan was eagerly anticipating that moment
when they would be blessed to meet the Prophet, peace be upon him,
place their hand in his hand to pledge allegiance to him in hearing and obedience,
and covenant to support and champion him.
Among the caravan was an elder from the notables of his people,
who had seated his small, only son behind him on his mount,
leaving behind in Yathrib nine daughters,
as he had no son other than him.
The elder was intensely eager for his young boy to witness the pledge of allegiance
and not miss that momentous day among the days of Allah.
As for that elder, he was 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr al-Khazraji al-Ansari,
and as for his young boy, he was Jabir ibn 'Abdillah al-Ansari.
Faith shone in the heart of Jabir ibn 'Abdillah when he was still a tender child,
illuminating every corner of his soul;
Islam touched his young heart
just as dewdrops touch the petals of flowers, causing them to bloom
and filling them with sweet scent and fragrance.
His bond with the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, grew strong from his earliest childhood.
When the supreme Messenger migrated to Al-Madinah,
the young believer learned directly at the hands of the Prophet of guidance and mercy,
becoming one of the most distinguished individuals produced by the Muhammadan school in memorizing the Book of Allah,
understanding the religion of Allah,
and narrating the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
It suffices you to know that the Musnad of Jabir ibn 'Abdillah contains between its covers 1,540 hadiths,
memorized by the gifted student
and narrated to the Muslims from their supreme Prophet, peace be upon him.
Al-Bukhari and Muslim recorded over two hundred of those hadiths in their Sahih collections,
and he remained a beacon of light and guidance for the Muslims for a long time,
as Allah granted him a long life until he nearly reached a century of age.
Jabir ibn 'Abdillah did not witness Badr or Uhud with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
because he was young, on one hand,
and because his father commanded him to stay with his nine sisters, on the other hand,
since they had no one else to take care of them.
Jabir narrated, saying:
"On the night preceding Uhud, my father called me and said,
'I expect to be among the very first killed among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
By Allah, I leave behind no one dearer to me than you, after the Messenger of Allah.
I have a debt, so settle my debt, and treat your sisters with compassion and kindly care.'
So make sure to treat them well.
When morning came, my father was the first person killed at Uhud.
After I buried him, I came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and said,
'O Messenger of Allah, my father left behind a debt,
and I have nothing with which to settle it except the yield of his date palms.
Even if I devoted all that produce to paying off his debt, I could not fulfill it for years,
and my sisters have no other wealth for their upkeep besides this.'
So the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, stood up,
walked with me to our heap of harvested dates—
a heap being the place where dates are piled and gathered—
and said to me, 'Summon your father's creditors.' So I called them.
He kept measuring out dates for them until Allah discharged my father's debt in full from that year's harvest.
Then I looked at the date heap and found it just as it was,
as if not a single date had been taken from it."
Ever since the death of Jabir's father,
he never missed a single battle with the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
In every battle, he had a memorable story told and cherished.
Let us yield the floor to him
to relate to us one of his experiences with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Jabir said:
"On the Day of the Trench, while we were digging,
we came upon a rock so hard that we were unable to break it.
So we came to the Messenger, peace be upon him, and said,
'O Prophet of Allah,
a solid rock has obstructed our path,
and our pickaxes have accomplished nothing against it.'
He, peace be upon him, said,
'Leave it, for I will go down to it.'
Then he stood up,
with a stone bound over his stomach due to severe hunger,
because three days had passed
during which we had not tasted any food.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, took the pickaxe,
struck the rock,
and it crumbled into a mound of soft sand.
At that moment,
my grief deepened over the hunger afflicting the supreme Messenger, peace be upon him.
I turned to him and said,
'Will you grant me permission, O Messenger of Allah, to go to my house?'
He said, 'Go.'
When I reached home, I said to my wife,
'I have seen such bitter hunger in the Messenger of Allah
as no human being could bear.
Do you have anything?'
She said,
'I have a little barley
and a small young goat.'
So I went to the goat, slaughtered it, dressed it,
and placed it in the cooking pot.
Then I took the barley, ground it, and handed it to my wife,
and she kneaded the dough.
When I saw that the meat was nearly cooked,
and the dough had softened
and was about to rise,
I went to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and said to him,
'A little food we have prepared for you, O Prophet of Allah,
so please come, you and one or two men with you.'
He asked, 'How much is it?'
So I described it to him.
When the Prophet, peace be upon him, realized the amount of food, he called out,
'O people of the Trench!
Jabir has prepared a feast for you, so come along!'
Then he turned to me and said,
'Go to your wife and tell her:
"Do not remove your pot from the fire, nor bake your dough, until I arrive."'
So I went home,
overwhelmed by such anxiety and embarrassment
as only Allah knows.
I kept saying to myself,
'Are the people of the Trench coming to us for a single measure of barley and a small young goat?'
Then I entered upon my wife and said,
'Woe to you, I am ruined!
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
is bringing the entire army of the Trench to us!'
She asked,
'Did he ask you how much food you had?'
I said, 'Yes.'
She said,
'Relieve your mind;
Allah and His Messenger know best.'
Her words lifted that immense worry from me.
It was only a short while
before the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, arrived,
accompanied by the Ansar and the Muhajirun.
He said to them,
'Enter, but do not crowd.'
Then he said to my wife,
'Bring a baker to bake alongside you,
ladle out from your pot, and do not remove it from the stove.'
Then he began breaking the bread,
topping it with meat,
and serving it to his Companions while they ate,
until everyone was fully satisfied.
Jabir added, saying:
'I swear by Allah,
they departed after eating their fill,
while our pot was still boiling, as full as it had been,
and our dough was still being baked just as before.'
Then the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
said to my wife,
'Eat from it, and send gifts of it.'
So she ate
and kept sending gifts of food for the rest of that day."
Indeed,
Jabir ibn 'Abdillah al-Ansari remained
a beacon of light and guidance for Muslims for a long time,
as Allah granted him long life
until he nearly reached a century of age.
One year, he went out to the land of the Byzantines to fight in the cause of Allah.
The army was under the command of Malik ibn 'Abdillah al-Khath'ami.
Malik was inspecting his troops as they marched,
checking on their condition,
boosting their morale,
and giving the elders among them the honor and care they deserved.
He passed by Jabir ibn 'Abdillah
and found him walking,
leading his mule by its reins.
He said to him,
"What is the matter, O Abu 'Abdillah?
Why do you not ride,
when Allah has made available to you a mount to carry you?"
Jabir replied,
"I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say:
'Whosoever's feet become dusty in the cause of Allah, Allah will forbid him from the Fire.'"
So Malik left him and rode ahead to the front of the army.
Then he turned toward him and called out at the top of his voice,
saying,
"O Abu 'Abdillah!
Why do you not ride your mule when it is in your possession?"
Jabir understood his intention
and answered him in a loud voice, saying,
"I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say:
'Whosoever's feet become dusty in the cause of Allah, Allah will forbid him from the Fire.'"
Upon hearing this, the men leaped down from their mounts,
each wanting to earn this reward,
such that no army was ever seen with more foot soldiers than that army.
Glad tidings to Jabir ibn 'Abdillah al-Ansari!
He pledged allegiance to the supreme Messenger, peace be upon him,
as a young child who had not yet reached puberty,
learned directly at his hands from his earliest childhood,
narrated his hadiths, which narrators transmitted from him,
strove in jihad alongside the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
as a young man in the prime of his youth,
and got his feet dusty in the cause of Allah
as an old man of advanced age,
narrating to the Muslims from their supreme Prophet,
peace be upon him,
1,540 hadiths.
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